Luxembourg

Day 3
Today we were destined to go to Luxembourg City from Paris. We took train to go to Gare de l'Est station. I was excited to travel on TGV for the first time. The train departed on time and slowly got out of Paris suburbs and then picked up speed. I got breakfast from the pantry and we sat their watching the French countryside roll past. My phone GPS didn't work and didn't get reminded to ask the train attendant about onboard WiFi so couldn't measure the speed. But I think it was mostly above 200 kmph and probably at some point it might have touched 300 kmph which seem to be the limit.

Station display 

Our train on the platform

Station concourse

Our train

High speed

The Luxembourg City station was artistically done. The hotel at Luxembourg City was near station and we decided to walk to it. However, the name which we were looking for was not there at the location. We had to go a little up & down and asked a couple of people and shops to come back where we had expected it to be. The homestay was by some other name. We checked in and quickly went for our Hop-on Hop-off tour whose meeting point was Boulevard Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The weather was overcast and chilly which made us bring out our jackets. We simply walked to the place and obtained the proper ticket against our Viator pass. Nearby located is Gelle Fra memorial which is an obelisk with a golden lady to commemorate the Luxembourgers who died in WW1.

Street scene

Street scene

Obelisk

At our HoHo point

Luxembourg is a very small country. It is a city-state with Luxembourg City being the main and only city. Historically, being a small state, the surrounding forces have kept it neutral to be that point of equilibrium. Due to its neutral polity and stable government there are lot of official and financial institutions here. People travel across Luxembourg or even towns from adjacent countries like France and Belgium everyday to work here. Imagine commuting to another country everyday! The city is known for being seat of European Union. The city itself is a medieval city built on deep gorges cut by rivers. The city is graded, some at the top and some at the bottom in the gorge which makes it very dramatic.

Bock casemates castle remains

Bock casemates giver & gorge

We got onto the bus in first round didn't get down anywhere and came back to starting point in 1.5 hours. We then has a quick bite at McDonald's and decided to go for Petrusse Express. Its a small toy train which runs on road which takes tourists through the old fortified city.

Petrusse Express

The starting point is at The Montée de Clausen which is very near to Bock Casemates which is a castle built around the gorge. The castle is now UNESCO heritage site. While we waited to depart, we could view the old city in the gorge from different viewpoints of Bock casemates. The buildings are mostly yellow with black pyramid roof trying to rise above the gorge.

Bock Casemates UNESCO site

City in the gorge

City in the gorge

The tour was enjoyable with complementary commentary of the sites. We came back to the starting point and again walked back through the lanes to be at bus stop for our hop-on-hop-off. In between we passed through the Grand Duchess Charlotte Memorial in Clairefontaine Square, not far from the late-Gothic Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin (1613), and the Government District.

Luxembourg compass

National monument

directions

We got into the bus again this time with intention of getting down at some point. We got down at Kirchberg which is the area where all the banks and offices are located. After strolling around we went to Auchen mall and had Starbucks coffee.

Outside Auchen mall

Denske bank building Kirchberg

We then took the next bus and came back to main station close to our lodgings. In the evening we went to an Indian restaurant Taj Mahal which turned out to be Nepalese restaurant.

Taj Mahal restaurant

We ordered the entrees the way we do in India but the portions were so huge that we had to pack the leftover for next day.